Can kindness be a liability?

Earlier today I was reading a blog post over at the Harvard Business Review that asked the question: do nice guys finish last?  This is a question that I've thought about on and off ever since my decision to pursue a career in the business world (fun fact- I used to do a bit of freelance design and very seriously considered pursuing my MFA in illustration/fine art), and I still feel conflicted about the answer.

The author's answer?  Yep.  Nice guys do in fact finish last, a trend displayed by a study showing that men perceived as having more (or larger) "nice" attributes have yearly salaries averaging $10,000 less than their not so agreeable counterparts.  Interestingly enoough, the same didn't hold true among women displaying more "nice" characteristics.

So why is it that nice guys finish last but nice girls compete well (compared to their respective counterparts)?

Urban Revitalization: PopupHood

I've lived in Harlem since 2007.  More specifically, I've lived in the North/Western-est part of Harlem, a neighborhood called Hamilton Heights. Not quite Central Harlem and not quite Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights rests between Columbia's main campus and the med school, and is home to a primarily Dominican/Latino community.  In the almost 5 years that I've lived here the neighborhood has definitely changed.  While I definitely believe that gentrification comes with positive and negative effects, I do believe that in general urban revitalization and development is a great thing, even more so when it is authentic and relevant to the community it seeks to improve.
During some web searching recently I came across PopupHood, an innovative and ambition initiative that seeks to achieve community revitalization by partnering with property owners and artists to create comprehensive "neighborhoods" of stores, bringing retail options into communities that are on the path to growth.  A mini-documentary featuring PopupHood is below:

What do you think?  Does this seem like a sustainable model for urban revitalization?  How can we transfer this to other cities and communities?  Could it only work in a city with a booming artistic community- or is Oakland just special?